A Boston College sports blog capturing the highs and lows of being a BC fan living 1,000 miles from Chestnut Hill.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

"Eagles take flight" (literally)

Last spring at the Matt Ryan cocktail party here in Atlanta, Gene held a Q&A with alumni. Inspired by Auburn's pregame ritual, fellow Eagle, Ted Hodan made a great suggestion to have a live eagle circle Alumni Stadium before games. Ted felt that a stunning tradition, like Auburn's, might motivate tailgaters to get to their seats on time. At the time, Gene casually brushed off the suggestion as silly [Eds note: Ted said "he acted like it was a terrible idea"]. Well Gene must of had a change of heart since BC has enlisted Challenger the Bald Eagle to perform his pregame flight prior to the Notre Dame game.

Challenger is a regular at NFL and MLB games throughout the year. Hopefully his flight is as cool as it sounds. If the response is positive and people get to their seats, I think we should get our own live eagle for every game.

33 comments:

Awesome idea and I agree it should be a regular event. But I don't think it will help fill the stadium earlier. And if it does it is very sad that an eagle (although cool) is more of a draw then the football game you paid money to see.

I think more people would be motivated to get into the stadium on time to see Baldwin shot out of a cannon. Now that's entertainment.

Of course, if neither of these ideas works they could go ahead with plan B, which is to get the campus cops out of their cruisers and have them sweep the tailgate areas with billy clubs and water cannons. That would be effective, too.

You know what would get people in their seats sooner? Not limiting them to tailgating only 1-3 hours and finding a way to create more parking. I know, I know, "Newton, regulations, etc." Find a way to make it work, that is the real problem with the gameday atmosphere and people getting into the stadium. It will never change unless you change those policies

small point, but worth noting: the tailgating regulations are a result of our entertainment license from the city of boston, not newton, and the contract is very strictly worded. bc has to apply for a license before each and every game and nothing is a given. if things get out of hand, boston can and will shut tailgating down. sad but true...the old newton scapegoat doesn't work here.

I'm very concerned about this game. Kelly is a great coach and he will play up the Catholic rivalry angle. He will also emphasize the Irish are backed into a corner and it is time to fight like warriors. Meanwhile, we are starting a qb that has never started before with an O-line that has been manhandled the past 2 games.

This game is not a factor in the ACC but I believe it is critical in keeping the bowl streak alive. This is a must win for both teams and I just hope our defense does not give up the big play this week as that may be the game.

Prediction: the eagle soars majestically, then dive bombs GDF and craps on his head and then soars again in triumph and flies into the OC box, mauls GT, forcing GT back into retirement. These 'trained chimp' types can revert to the wild state at just the wrong moment.

Actually, forget the drop kick murphys, they should play Toby Keith's "courtesy of the Red White and Blue" when that eagle flies

"Hey, Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.And the eagle will fly and it's gonna be hell,When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell.And it'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you.Ah, brought to you, courtesy of the red, white and blue."

The tailgating policies suck. And we'll never be a big-time college program until the culture changes at BC. Then again, very few people probably care about changing the culture, so it doesn't matter. The eagle is putting lipstick on a pig. Tell the Waffen BCPD to remember they're college cops.

By the way, BJK said VTech wasn't a sellout. Ha. How are those Sox doing this yr up in Bahston? Let's come up with another excuse. We've got tailgating policies. Check. Pro teams. Check. Lack of live eagle. Check. Baldwin not being shout out of a cannon yet. Check. Lack of water cannons. Check. Billy clubs. Check. Crappy northeastern college football fans. Check. Nazi Newtonians. Check. No parking. Check. TOB's 9 win ceiling. Check. No offensive playmakers to come out and watch. Check.

We're hitting on all cylinders. I like our chances this week. We might even get 40,000 into our high school stadium.

Wow. No worries on what kind of numbers we are going to draw. game is only on ABC in the Eastern US and up to Chicago (more or less). ESPN2 covers OU/Stanford and USC Washington State. Everyone else is stuck with Gameplan or ESPN3 - including me becasue I am in Colorado this weekend

Don't worry CT, Notre Dame will bring 10,000 fans and they will probably out-cheer the wine-and-cheese, sit-on-their-hands local Chowderhead alumni. It's just not a big-time college football environment. It's a baseball town and always will be. I'm flying out for the Maryland game and I'm betting the stadium will only be half full. At least the Superfans are awesome and truly get it.

Walter you are so right. For some, expressing hope and enthusiasm is just too scary. Negative is so much safer.

CT and eagleiowa do you guys EVER have anything good to say about BC? good lord. Alumni stadium was 96% full for the VT game - a 12 o'clock start. Game sucked, not the crowd size. ND tix are the hottest ticket in Boston now. Go check stubhub for prices - sales at 4 to 10 times face value. You know Alumni will be great on Saturday night. Have little faith you grumpy b*st*rds.

your right, i just get annoyed when people they call superfans can't get to a game on time. And I shouldn't lump all students together because there are enough that get there 30 min early. I understand that many students aren't as interested in the game as those of us here are, but its not that hard to be there at kickoff. I have had season tickets for most of my life and it seems to get worse each year in terms of students coming in late.

Boston College safety Wes Davis, a native of San Diego, said he has embraced the rivalry and can sense how much it means to the fans and the students on campus.

“The students are a little more interested,” he said. “I think you’ll see some more butts in the seats before game time. This is my fifth year here. I know how it’s going to be, how excited people are for it. There’s definitely a different atmosphere, but from a team perspective it’s status quo.

Bobble is wrong on this, students have been filling the student section earlier every year (granted not as good as the Ryan years, but what do they have to cheer for?). The SS was PACKED for Kent State, can you say the same for the rest of Alumni? Glass houses, rocks, etc.

I am surprised that none of our "Golden Eagle" posters have brought up "Margo". Margo was the live Eagle that they used to fly around the stadium in the 60s until some activist group threw cold water on her and BC because they had her on a chain. Margo was a hybrid name of Maroon and Gold.

Having Challenger is an excellent idea!! Wish I was going to be there!! Bill great reporting to remember the details of the Atl event!! I actually remember Gene also adding that it was a "liability concern."

I was a student during some of the Margo years, and was proud of the tradition. Logistically, I guess it was a bit of a problem. I remember the contrast between Margo (slow) and the Air Force Falcon - it was great fun.

Margo [a combination of the first letters of the school colors] was a 10-pound, two-month old female golden eagle given to the University by a Colorado man in August 1961. For five years, the bird lived at the Franklin Park Zoo, attended every BC home contest tethered to a sizeable perch, and even made the traveling squad for games against Army, Holy Cross, and Syracuse. Its reign ended unhappily early in the 1966 season when it succumbed to a virus just before a road trip to Annapolis for a game against Navy.

By that time, the status of the eagle as an endangered species made it undesirable to replace Margo. The University soon opted to fill the void by following a national sports trend: using a costumed human mascot to roam the sidelines and exhort the Eagles faithful.

Go BC - fans be there early - I will be as I always am when in town for a game.

One other topic - and I hate to be negative as well. I've always looked on the bright side, and it has served me well.

But the parking and tailgaiting situation adds up to a negative gameday experience. We can't deny that. For games such as ND, the fans will put up with it. But not for games later in the season if BC is not winning.

This is extremely off topic, but I'm reading a case where the character's name is "Tobias St. Pierre".It sounds like it would someone's handle on Eagle Outsider. I can't get past it to actually do the reading.

I think the enthusiasm of the fans is commensurate with the entertainment value of the product on the field (not solely the tailgating experience). Did we have this much bashing of the "game day experience" during Ryan's junior and senior years? I don't remember. Although the defense has been strong, the offense has not been fun to watch since Ryan graduated.

Random item: have you seen the new UnderArmor Superfan t-shirts? on the back it says "Ignite the Heights with Spirit and Truth". Really get's the adrenaline flowin' don't it? Sheesh. Is Christine O'Donnell doing BC's marketing now?